Cuba Gets a Castro Convertible

A prize for the Ladies in White is bigger news than Diáz-Canel.

Eighty-six-year-old Raúl Castro grabbed headlines last week when he ceded the title of president to 58-year-old civilian Miguel Diáz-Canel. Too bad this change at the top is nominal when it comes to freedom for the Cuban people.

Mr. Diáz-Canel is well-known for his rapid rise through the Communist Party to become the youngest member of the Politburo in 2003. He didn’t do it as an independent thinker. Cubans have every reason to believe him when he says, as he did in his acceptance speech, that he is committed to preserving...